Originally published several years ago, this honeymoon story from former GeoEx Trip Planner Natalie Crow provides a glimpse into the magic of traveling in Jordan. Though Natalie has since moved on from GeoEx, her journey continues to beautifully capture the warmth, wonder, and cultural richness that make Jordan such an exceptional destination.

In revisiting and refreshing this piece for 2025, we’ve kept the story in Natalie’s own words—honoring the authenticity of her experience, the joy she and her husband Dan found along the way, and the guiding expertise that helped shape their adventure. We hope her memories inspire your own extraordinary journey.

Former GeoEx trip planner Natalie Crow and her husband, Dan Rosenbaum, decided to celebrate their marriage with a ten-day tour of Jordan. They worked with GeoEx colleagues to customize their ideal journey.

“Having all your transportation and guides secured in advance is an absolute must for a honeymoon,” Natalie says. “After planning and then having your wedding, you’re so exhausted that the last thing you want to do is worry about how you’re going to get to your hotel in this new foreign country. The best wedding present is to have someone waiting there at the airport with a sign, with your name on it!”

“For our honeymoon, we really wanted to immerse ourselves in a new culture,” she adds. “We wanted to go somewhere warm, and we wanted a mix of urban and rural, with activities ranging from history to hiking—and great food! Jordan seemed the perfect choice!”

“As a trip planner myself,” Natalie continues, “I’ve been on the designer side of creating a dream trip. But what a treat it was to be on the traveler side, benefiting from GeoEx’s deep knowledge and contacts! GeoEx knows just the right guides that can take you to their favorite places, which might not even be on the map. Our guide led us on a hike through a wadi (canyon) for miles and we saw no other human beings. We had 4×4 drives through the desert and did lots of stargazing at night. We made friends with locals and had so much fun camping overnight with the Bedouins. Our guide’s sister worked at a local wine bar/restaurant and made some special arrangements for us. And then, GeoEx colleagues booked us a hammam experience as a total surprise! If you have never done a hammam, doing one with your new husband/wife at the same time is, well, hilarious!”

Below are some of the highlights of Natalie and Dan’s dream honeymoon. If you have a special celebration trip coming up, let us make your dreams come true too!

The Amman Citadel is an impressive archeological site right in the middle of downtown Amman. Shown here is the Roman Temple of Hercules.

A local woman invited us into her home and served us the most delicious lunch of bread, which we watched her make by hand, with homemade jam and cured olives.

These are our lovely tour guides and locals at the visitor center in Salt. We had so much fun wandering around the narrow, charming streets with them, learning about the history of Jordan’s original capital.

We never got tired of the view from our hotel at the Dead Sea.

One of the highlights of the trip was hiking through this slot canyon, Wadi al Hasa. Considered a sacred site by many, it is even mentioned in the Old Testament.

These kids were very excited to see us when we finished our hike. They greeted us with “Hi! How are you?” and wanted to take selfies with us, on Snapchat.

Another highlight was staying at the Feynan Ecolodge in the Dana Biosphere Reserve. This is the dining area at the lodge.

Here we are hiking part of the Jordan Trail, a 400-mile-long hiking trail that runs from Umm Qais in the north to Aqaba in the south.

Tent with a view! Our Bedouin guides took us to wonderful remote camping spots; at each one, we felt like we were in a world of our own.

Our guides concocted an absolute feast of chicken on skewers, falafel, baba ghanoush, hummus, olives, and vegetables on this fire. After creating that feast, they arranged a beautiful candlelit dinner. So romantic! Spending time with the Bedouins was really amazing and enlightening. As one example, the man who made our meal was wearing fancy footwear, but he told us that he first started wearing shoes at age 10. He didn’t know what shoes were before that!

Our first view of Petra! You walk through a narrow canyon until at the end, it opens up to this iconic sight.

This is the Monastery at Petra, which is a far hike from the other sites. Petra is an entire city, one that you need multiple days to explore.

This was the enchanting rooftop view from our Movenpick Hotel in Petra.

Another highlight of our trip was the delicious Mediterranean food! These are just appetizers. I made the mistake many times of filling up before the main course and then the dessert. Thank goodness we were hiking and walking a lot!

If you want to feel like you’re on Mars, go to the desert of Wadi Rum. This is a prime setting for Hollywood films, including The Martian and Star Wars; we even saw a crew filming when we were there!

The spectacular landscapes in Wadi Rum range from sharp rock formations to shifting red dunes of fine, soft sand.

Here our Bedouin friend taught us how to bake bread in the desert: You put the dough on the flat skillet and bury it in the ash. It was delicious.

GeoEx uses the most exclusive desert tented camp in the area. We felt incredibly well taken care of and watched the sunset from this perfect hammock. We also lost ourselves to a sky full of stars here. And of course, when in the desert, you’ve got to ride a camel. 🙂

Does the romance and natural beauty of Jordan inspire you? Learn more about traveling in Jordan, and let our experts craft your honeymoon or special-occasion trip with extra care and personal attention.